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Washington – An Atlanta, Georgia, man was being held under armed guard at a Georgia hospital Wednesday after his attempt to evade US health officials, who have warned he suffers from an extremely drug-resistant strain of tuberculosis.

The man, who has not been identified, may have exposed passengers on two international flights to the disease, according to the US Centres for Disease Control (CDC.)

The forced quarantine was the first such move by US public authorities in more than 40 years.

Passengers onboard the Air France flight from Atlanta, Georgia to Paris on May 12 and then on a Czech Air flight from Prague to Montreal on May 24 were being urged to check in with the CDC for testing.

The background in the case was unclear. The Atlanta man apparently identified with the disease in January by public health officials. But he told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that he had not been prohibited from leaving the country when he told them he needed to fly to Greece for his wedding.

The CDC tracked him down on his honeymoon in Rome to order him into isolation, the newspaper reported.